Sportsrageous

Mike Leach, a former coach for Texas Tech University, is suing ESPN Inc. and a public relations firm for “willful and negligent defamation” regarding the coverage of his job termination by Texas Tech.

According to SI.com, Leach was fired for mistreating Adam James, a player on the team, by forcing him to stand in a dark room for hours as the team practiced. However, Leach denied the accusation. He was fired on December 30 of last year.

Leach’s attorney, Ted Liggett, said that “Mike Leach wants his name cleared. His reputation has taken a severe hit and been tarnished.” Leach claimed that ESPN Inc. did not “retract false and damaging statements” that it received from Craig James, father of Adam James who is also an employee of ESPN.

A few days after Leach was fired, ESPN’s Dan Patrick said, “There is Adam James, who is the young man who was actually punished for having a concussion.” The lawsuit Leach filled points out that Patrick’s statement may have caused listeners to believe that Leach abused James for having a concussion.

The libel suit also claimed that Spaeth Communications was hired by James for “purposes of creating public opinion hostile to Leach.”

Liggett said Spaeth posted a video online that Adam James recorded as he stood in the dark.

Josh Krulewitz, a spokesman for ESPN Inc., said officials had not viewed the lawsuit and provided no further comment.

Although Krulewitz declined to comment, Sparth’s executive vice president Rebecca Shaw had a lot to say.

“This lawsuit is the predictable strategy of a man who is desperate to avoid accountability for his own behavior,” said Shaw in an e-mail.